Chambray Labradors Triple Threat Feedback

The Triple Threat Emails 08/05/2011

The Triple Threat Emails

The recent articles on creating the Triple Threat at the dog shows has brought a cascade of emails with feedback, comments and inquiries from every nook and cranny throughout the country and even from abroad! The overwhelming majority agree that the more we do with our dogs the better it will be for all involved.

The vast consensus concurs that dogs are pretty much like athletes, the more practice, training and conditioning the better the results will be at the competitive venues. Many also expressed satisfaction knowing that their dogs are also healthier by the conditioning provided, rather than being fat and out of shape!

What struck me the most on an intellectual level was the large numbers of emails expressing how difficult it was for them to obtain top show quality puppies. Those were the real disheartening responses that dealt with the arduous process of acquiring top grade show puppies from those that are producing them. I covered that issue in-depth in Triple Threat part 3.

There was one singular response that resonated personally which I feel needs addressing as well. The reason that I will take a few minutes to cover this particular email is that there are statistics that state that if one person emails you on any subject then there are at least 50 more that have the same concern, but those “silent” ones don’t have the inclination, time or energy to express themselves in emails or with phone calls.

In addition as I was working on this rendering, there was a group of Chambray owners at a UKC event in Lakeland Fl recently and one of them expressed to me the same exact subject that was relayed to them by a third party. The party in question had heard the exact same verbiage from the same source! So, that leads me to believe that an urban myth is being perpetrated by at least one wayward entity and that this offering will quell any future misconception being spread by disgruntled ex-postal worker types.

From my own experience by a prospective new owner, the subject matter came through over 3 emails of back and forth communication. For simplicity sake I will condense the numerous emails into one.

Email: Mr. Herzon I have read all of your offerings through your Breeders & Owners Programs, all of which exist nowhere else! We have been considering getting a show type puppy as a family with our children getting involved in many aspects of dog ownership including showing, agility and obedience and eventually doing therapy work with the dog.

While attending a recent dog show in our community, my husband and I took the opportunity to speak a vast number of  breeders and exhibitors that had dogs entered there including dozens of those who are already part of your group of owners! All of those people that were connected to you in one way or another sing the praises about you and your family. It was imposing to say the least to see what a huge following you have as the overwhelming majority of those around ringside were involved with Chambray!

In our conversations with other people there, we found a couple of other breeders to be very standoffish and not at all the friendly type and we also encountered one in particular character that seemed to be very bitter with her dealings with you and only had negative things to say.

She warned that you require co-ownerships with any dog that you would place with us because you wanted to control everything about that dog. Furthermore that we wouldn’t have any say into anything including the training and if the dog were to show, that you decide who handles it and eventually if the dog was to breed, that you would determine who the dog breeds to!

It was a really chilling feeling as we walked away with and left us a bit concerned about how to proceed in the future. Would it be possible for you to respond to what we encountered recently so that we can make some decisions on how to proceed?

My response to the preceding went along these lines:

I deal with thousands of potential new owners on a yearly basis as that is how many contact me for one of our highly sought out puppies. However, the stark reality is that there are only about 75 puppies a year available. That averages out to 10 litters with about 7 puppies per litter from over 140 owners~breeders~exhibitors that participate with Chambray Labradors!

Doing the math here indicates that only 75 people from over 2000 will be able to actually own one of our puppies!

First of all I provide the most informative website on the Internet about Labrador Retrievers. I detail in step by step, easy to understand language our complete mission and policy about breeding and placing our puppies for all to read and understand with all types of renderings at pages throughout the website!

Guaranteed in writing, iron-clad warrantees are published for those perusing through the website to make it easy for them to generate printouts for further reference and to compare to what other breeders are offering. The entire process of obtaining a puppy from Chambray is detailed in easy to understand language. All of the amenities, training and support system is further documented and outlined in many articles and educational offerings found at www.chambraylabradors.com

So, for all those that have read through the website and have a basic understanding of how different and unique our offerings are, we encourage them to contact us as the next step in the puppy acquiring process.

I do my very best to filter through the vast majority of those that email with a thorough process that I have developed so that I will only be dealing with those that may be a good candidate to own one of our puppies .

At first,

• through email communications,

• then followed up with phone conversations,

• ultimately leading to personal meetings,

I decide who will be put on our waiting lists for the up and coming litters because seldom if ever are there puppies readily available for someone new calling in for a puppy at that precise moment. So sought out are the Chambray puppies, that all of them are usually spoken for before they are actually born.

We want people to be as educated as possible about the ownership of a Chambray Labrador puppy, especially those puppies that have been designated as show quality. Since our only goal is to produce show quality from the very best breeding dogs, then to take those puppies once full grown and consider them as the next generation to perpetuate the great qualities of the Labrador retriever.

With the preceding as a backdrop, the following will answer your question a bit more detailed.

• All of our Show Quality puppies are placed on Full Registration!
• None are placed on Co-Ownerships!

What the above means is that when you pick up the puppy from us, you are the sole owner and you can do with the puppy as you wish, including showing and breeding the dog later in life without co-ownerships or mentorship!

That is as plain and simple as can be made!

However since the puppy comes with the following which each new owner can choose to participate in:

• Unlimited FREE training classes, both private one-on-one sessions and class training too………
• plus lifetime support system,
• plus mentoring for every aspect of show dog ownership,
• plus inclusion into our handling program,
• plus the opportunity to take advantage of my 41 years of knowledge about the breed and breeding,

Most new to the fancy and even those that has been around for some time will take advantage of all that comes with being a Chambray puppy owner! That means that those owners have willingly joined in and have taken advantage of all that is offered to them.

Along the way I may invite someone to take a more active role in the program by offering a co-ownership of a dog so that we can show it in the Bred-By Exhibitor class to take advantage of the special invitations for a Bred-By Exhibitor champion to Eukanuba.

When the time comes to breed a dog, I may offer an owner the opportunity for the dog to be co-bred so that all the puppies would be eligible for placement through our Puppy Placement Program as a Chambray puppy.

An owner who has a male dog may be offered to participate in the Stud Dog Program to perpetuate that dog’s great qualities.

The entire kit and caboodle or certain parts above are offered to owners as long as we can work together! Because the moment that any form of distrust comes up, then all of the above fades away and the owner is free to walk away from any prior commitments with no repercussions.

However it is 100% up to each owner that has been invited to join our programs if they would like to participate at the higher levels of cooperation, associations, co-ownerships, co-breeding, stud service management and whatever else is there for the Betterment of the Breed!

It has to be offered first and then the owner has to knowingly and without any reservation accept and enter into a mutual working agreement! By the way, there are no contracts to sign, because I will always do what I offer to do and I hope that the person that is working with me follows through with the part of the deal. If they don’t then, there is no working agreement and everyone just walks away.

As simple as a dimple on a dapple, it either works well for all involved or it just fades away with no acrimony on my part.

Unfortunately not all working relationship work out and there have been some that took advantage of the amenities, the support system, the training and all the good will offered them and then just didn’t fit in through mistrust and lack of mental coordination or unstable personality types!

That means that they fully benefited from the relationship and then did not live up to their part of the bargain.

Yes, I am aware of a few that continually feel the need to express their displeasure of either not being asked to be part of the working agreement program or were asked to leave the program.

They each took total advantage for years of the training classes as can be documented by sign up sheets, by tests taken and by dozens of photos at the training classes and also at our home~farm for hundreds of private appointments logged for training. There are hundreds of emails from them as well that show how they all took further advantage of the support system with each of their Chambray puppies and dogs as they grew up. There are countless “gifts” that almost all of them bestowed upon Chambray that are part of our massive Labrador Retriever collection at our home’s “Labrador Museum room”.

All of this is well documented in display shelves and cases, folder files, email records and even recorded phone messages left on our VMS from each of those that now feel the need to be negative. All this information has been made available to anyone asking as proof positive of the other side of the story!

So,

• not everyone will be offered a co-ownership,

• not everyone will be given the opportunity to co-breed a litter,

• nor to be part of the stud service program…….

that will be my option if I feel that it is for the betterment of the breed and whether we can mutually benefit and have a good working relationship.

Even is asked into the advanced program, if distrust crops up, then the working agreements are terminated and the affected party owes nothing in return. 

The person that you talked to is a loner type that doesn’t fit well into most social settings and although I gave them the opportunity to work within the largest Labrador owners program of its kind, ultimately their inability to function cohesively closed the door for them within my programs. It is evident by their bitterness that they just can’t move on with a positive agenda and I just don’t have the time nor interest to lose too much time dealing with such negative energy!

Interesting enough, I actually wish these few "corrupted-file types" well and hope that ultimately they move along and contribute to the overall betterment of the breed. We actually need more people to breed to the best of their ability so that their will be more competition at the dogs shows for our dogs. We encourage those outside our vast network of owners, breeders, exhibitors, co-breeders, co-owners, associates, stud dog owners to do well and also to be successful as all those in our programs are!

I like people to make educated decisions based on hard, verifiable facts. Come to a conclusion based on what realities they independently perceive from a preponderance of the facts and if they still have any doubts then I have done everything I can to educate and there is nothing further that I want to do to convince anyone about what we have to offer.

Another point of interest is that the vast majority of people that hear this negative rhetoric are actually turned off by the oddball few that broadcast it, as they can see for themselves what is reality and what is purported by the out-casted ones. The voice of the vast majority, usually 90%-PLUS of those in attendance at an area dog show Labrador ring is very difficult to argue against by 1 or 2 mal-contents!

Like I stated previously, it is as simple as a dimple on a dapple.

As I was putting the finishing touches on the above article the following email came in from yet another source. Since it deals with very much the same subject matter, I decided to add it here to solidify what has been covered above.

Hi Sandy,

Just wanted to touch base with you.  Now that we're getting closer to being able to commit NOW I have even more questions, lol  Not sure if it would be better to schedule a phone appt or if you can answer via email (although I really like email:)

-         One thing is with looking at the three incredible litters you have that are going to be available, how in the world are you going to be able to pick out a female for us?  We love Hogan (he looks to have a large head as well?) and Bailey, both of them have incredible pedigrees along with Zinfdel who has a beautiful head (we love the large blocky heads if possible) but with Zinfdel's sired litter we liked the idea of a high producing dam as well.  Like many folks, we are going to be using our females to support the dog show expenses:)  The timing financial wise may be better with the Zinfdel's litter too but the Hogan sired litter we would be able to take her to the IABCA in October, so decisions, decisions:(  Or do you have any planned breedings that you think would be better for us?  If so, can you tell us the pairings you're thinking about?

M

Hi M

I just wrote an article that I am considering publishing after I refine and tweak it for the general population to understand.

It will be listed right at the front page where other "editorials" are listed. It actually answers many of your questions you have, so that must mean that many others have the same questions.

As far as selecting from any litter; I take it 1 litter at a time. I evaluate and select out the top prospects in each litter and then mentally compare them to the top rating puppies from all the previous litters. Merely selecting the best puppy from a litter is meaningless because what if the whole litter wasn't that good. Then you would have the best of from not so good!

So there is a grading system in place where each puppy is graded against the best that there have ever been. That is the secret to my successful show placement program.

All the other breeders select out 1 puppy as the pick of the litter and that is their best puppy. But what if all the puppies were ordinary in that litter? Then you would just have the best puppy from an ordinary group of puppies.

I may evaluate a great potential litter from the greatest dog on earth and yet not find anything really top notch, I would then let you know and give you the option to wait for the next litter! Not many breeders do that!

I know what you want and I will make sure that you will be successful with it. Remember that I don't keep any puppies from any litter, so you and others that I have chosen will be getting my best puppies. PLUS.........................I guarantee show quality....no other breeder does that!!! If by a year of age the dog is not competitive showing, I will replace it!

From M ~  As far as the Partner's Program, how exactly does that work and is there a cost to us?  I was trying to find specifics on your website but I'm afraid I just made myself a little more confused - go figure, lol  Is there a contract you could send to me that would explain it in detail or some type of document. 

There is no cost, you take advantage of all the amenities, warrantees, guarantees, support system, free training and you participate in any program that I offer free of charge.

From M ~  And what is the Community for Betterment of the Breed, and would that affect us?  What does that entail?  Do we pay to be a part of this program or is it included in the purchase of a show quality dog?

No costs. It is like being in a dog club, but there are no memberships, no dues, and no meetings. You participate in as much or as little. You decide 100% all the time.

From M ~ In reading the website, I understand Chambray is in the name and I think we would need to give you a pick from a future litter if we get a female or stud service if we get a male.  Correct?  And if so, what pick would you get from the litter  Or if we purchased a male how would it work for required stud services since we live "long distance" from you.   How many stud services from our male would be required to satisfy our contract? Would we be financially responsible for collection and shipment? For the female we get from you, will you require us to use a specific stud?    We are hoping to get a male to finish but not until next year probably.  Really want to focus on our females right now. 

The puppy is 100% yours. You owe me nothing back once you take it home with you. You breed to who ever you want to breed to and you place the puppies to who ever you want to.

Now, you can go into a co-breed litter with me if you and I can work together. The advantage to this is that I will place the puppies for you through my vast network of potential show owners which ensures that some of the puppies in the litter will end up showing. There is a compensation package for each puppy I place. I am only interested in breeding females that are absolute show quality and have passed their clearances.

So, the more you put into one of my females, the more I am going to reward you on a co-owned litter.

Plus, I take the litter at 6 weeks of age. I provide all the vaccinations, wormings, vet visits, microchip, AKC litter reg, all the promoting and advertising, plus I place and guarantee the puppies with the new owners (all this would cost you about $250 to $350 per puppy).

Plus it would take you about 10 years to have the clientele that I have for top show quality puppies.

As for selecting the stud dog......................I will provide you a short list of say 5 males that with my 41 years in the breed, know will produce what we need with the female involved, you can research them and let me know which you like to use, and you then provide the stud service for him.

Here is a huge plus.............if the stud dog is part of my stud dog program you get reduced rates and you don't have to pay the full amount at the time of breeding (50% then and 50% after puppies are sold)

You have the choice if I offer it to you. You are not “forced” into anything at anytime.

Also, if we can work together with a male, he can be part of the stud dog program. The advantage is that daily I get inquiries for stud service which I then spread out to all of my stud dog partners. We then split the stud service fee 50/50 for dogs that I collect and either AI or ship out to. For dogs further away, I teach you how to do the AI's and then I send you the business, you collect and ship out and I get 30% of the service fee.

You have a choice if I offer it to you to join in or not

From M ~  I also know you told me you would work with us in training for showing and there is the 12 week program, does that include obedience and show by any chance?  We would probably do what you suggested which would be to schedule a private training class and then attend the group class following.

Unlimited free show training for the lifetime of the dog with private training here at the farm. Also, unlimited free show training classes here at the farm. The 8 week CGC and Basic Obedience Training Course here at the farm, free including the AKC's CGC test. You take advantage of all the above or not.

From M ~ Sorry for all of the questions Sandy but we're hoping to be able to finalize everything soon so I want to make sure I know all the answers so it's just a matter of saying we're going forward.

Take your time, there is no rush. Remember that great things are worth waiting for!

Well, I guess that about wraps up some of the loose ends for now that seem to be hanging around. I am sure that as time passes there will be more need to clarify some issues that come up on a natural basis and also created by those outside the most successful Labrador Owners Program of its kind. As my good buddy Joe Nap also says to me, “Hey, when they stop talking about you, then you ain’t important anymore!”

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Chambray Labradors
PO Box 960368
Miami, Florida 33296

Because of our extensive involvement with our Labradors and those of our owners throughout the day, it is best to contact us using Email!

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(305) 232-LABS
(305) 232-5227

By Email:
labs@chambraylabradors.com

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